About this title: Winner of the Whitbread Award for best novel and praised for her "style, ideas, and punch" (Jeanette Winterson), Smith has produced a novel at once profound, playful, and exhilaratingly inventive, as she transfixes readers with a portrait of a family unraveled by a mysterious visitor.
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Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK. Trade paperback DIMENSIONS IN INCHES-8 1/2 X 5 7/8 X 1. (US). Glued binding. 306 p. Audience: General/trade. ADVANCE READING COPY-FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK-LOOKS NEW-LARGE SOFT COVER-DIMENSIONS IN INCHES-8 1/2 X 5 7/8 X 1. F-Smith, Ali, PANTHEON BOOKS, 2005. British Isles; Fiction; Literary; Norfolk (England); Summer resorts; Truthfulness and falsehood; Women biographers. MAILS QUICKLY read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422256ISBN:0375422250
Description: Very Good in Good+ jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2006-01-10
ISBN-13:9780375422256ISBN:0375422250
Description: Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket. First Edition, VG+/VG+, interior clean, binding tight; mild edgewear to book and DJ, slight spine lean. read more
Description: Fine. 1598870130 **NEW AUDIO ** 8 CDs, over 9 hours, unabridged. Still factory sealed. Box is creased on edges. Shipped with delivery confirmation inside US. Selling since 1979*d. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"I'm unsure what to think of this book. To be honest, though I read it in about 4/5 hours I don't even know if I enjoyed it. It was, to me, very vague, very garbled and it was just full of random ramblings.
At first, I was a bit sceptical about how it was written. Short sentences, all thoughts etc. But I did, around page 60, get into that style. Though I can't really say it's one I apreciated all that much. I did like the flow of it, the structure and the 'poetic-prettiness' of it. Sometimes through the method of writing Smith uses I got very clear pictures as to what was going on.
The characters, I felt, were very clear most of the time. They all had destinct personalities and it was very easy to differenciate between them. Though, saying that, sometimes I got a bit 'argh' with them as the way the book was written didn't do them all that much justice.
The story in my opinion, though good, was a bit here&there with no real structure. If the book had been written in a different style, maybe it would have worked, but I felt it was very vague and unclear in some parts.
I'd heard only good reviews about this book, and I can see why people enjoy it but for me I don't think it's one I can honestly, hand on heart say I really, really enjoyed. Yes - it was a good book and yes, I will probably read it again to give it the benifit of the doubt and maybe just see if I understand the hype what surrounds it... Personally, I'd say it's an easy read & one to snuggle up with a mug of hot chocolate or lay out in the sun with; very easy to make a few hours for rain or shine."
"I read reviews, I listen to others talk about books, I seek out books that others rave about, and nevertheless, many books disappoint.
The Accidental did not disappoint.
And how did I run across it? Well, (forgive me this) it was quite accidental. As many good things are.
The Accidental has everything I dream of finding in a good book. It's smarter than me (the most important quality I look for in a good book or a good friend). It has intriguing characters. It has a plot that both confirms and surprises. The writing is beautiful, lush, fun.
It is a book that I can see myself reading again, talking about, thinking about.
I know I'm gushing. But it is like trying to describe a new boyfriend to a friend at work, all the while worrying secretly that when the boyfriend and friend finally do meet, the friend will see nothing but the boyfriend's receding hairline and awkward social skills.
I'm sure there must be a receding hairline somewhere in The Accidental, but right now I'm too overcome with its beauty and cleverness to notice."
"Mengambil latar sebuah vila di Norfolk, The Accidental mengisahkan keluarga Smart yang justru tidak terlalu pintar dalam memahami emosinya masing-masing. Mereka terdiri dari dua anak: Astrid dan Magnus, Eve si ibu, dan Michael si ayah tiri. Jika Astrid adalah anak perempuan dua belas tahun yang terobsesi dengan handy-cam-nya, maka kakaknya Magnus merupakan bocah SMA suicidal yang tiba-tiba menjauhkan diri dari jangkauan keluarganya. Sementara itu Eve beprofesi sebagai penulis literatur sejarah populer yang sedang mengalami writer's block, sedangkan Michael adalah dosen literatur yang terjebak dalam serangkaian affair dangkal dengan para mahasiswinya. Sampai suatu hari keluarga Smart kedatangan Amber, seorang wanita misterius yang menuntun mereka keluar dari kegelapan.
Yang paling berkesan dari buku ini adalah penggunaan stream of consciousness oleh Ali Smith melalui sudut pandang orang ketiga. Stream of consciousness merupakan jenis penuturan yang melakukan karakterisasi melalui penjabaran proses berpikir si tokoh. Semua orang mengalami peristiwa yang sama, tetapi Astrid, Magnus, Eve, dan Michael mendapat kesempatan menjelaskan peristiwa tersebut dalam versi masing-masing. Di satu sisi, penuturan yang seperti ini memungkinkan si penulis menulis begitu banyak informasi dalam satu paragraf pendek. Namun di sisi lain, penuturan ini juga membuat pembaca mesti ekstra perhatian untuk bisa mengikuti jalan ceritanya.
Untungnya Ali Smith sering melakukan variasi dalam menjabarkan proses berpikir karakternya. Selain prosa, kadang-kadang ia menggunakan format tanya jawab dan soneta. Satu hal lagi yang membuat pembaca tidak mudah bosan: The Accidental memuat referensi pop tanpa menyebut judul buku atau film yang dimaksud, tetapi deskripsinya cukup membuat pembaca mengetahui hal apa yang dimaksudkan Smith.
Kebetulan Ali Smith adalah seorang lesbian, semua bukunya ia dedikasikan untuk pasangannya selama 22 tahun, Sarah Wood. The Accidental masuk dalam lima besar The Man Booker Prize 2005."
"For the first 2/3 of this book, I was set to rate it two stars, despite being the winner of the Whitbread Award and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, but the final third raised my rating to three stars. At its most basic, the story revolves around a young woman, Amber, who arrives unexpectedly at a family's summer cottage in rural England, is taken in by the family, manipulates each membr of the unhappy Smart family, wreaks havoc in their interrelationships, and the disappears just as abruptly. The writing is delicious. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different person in a stream of consciousness style. The best example is Amber relating her autobiograpy by invoking scenes from classic movies and linking those movie references into a seamless explanation of her view of life. Ali Smith is equally effective in telling the story from the point of view of each of the characters. And the impact the absent Amber has on the lives of the family draws all of the various themes together into a satisfying whole."
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